Hawthorne firefighters rescue man from industrial building during flash flood

April 16, 2018

HAWTHORNE — Volunteer firefighters on Monday rescued a man from a building on Wagaraw Road, as raging floodwaters from Goffle Brook turned an industrial complex into an island.

Fire Chief Joseph Speranza said a man, who he believed to be 35 years old, was trapped in a one-story building at 73 Wagaraw Road by at least four feet of water. Eight other people, he said, were safe on the second floor of a larger structure in the same complex.

“He was in a real bad place,” the fire chief said, while still at the scene. “He wouldn’t have a prayer, if he stepped out into this current. He would be gone, and there would be nothing we could do to save him.” read full article on North Jersey.com